Tesla v Times cage match 3

In response to Elon Musk’s dump of driving logs, John Broder posts, That Tesla Data: What It Says and What It Doesn’t. Broder tries to explain away the data, claiming he was misled by Tesla support, that the Tesla computer didn’t account for snow tires, and even that he was driving around in the dark trying to find a supercharger. Some of the over two hundred commenters empathize with Broder, but one notes:

Mr. Broder, I work pretty close to the Milford Service Plaza. The Tesla Supercharger is right in front of the McDonald’s in the closest parking space to the entrance with the two gigantic glossy white charge stations next to it. Considering that the lot is actually pretty tiny, I’m surprised that you had to circle around so many times to find it.

Also, get your eyes checked. The Milford Service Plaza is pretty well lit at night.

In truth, neither party is helping themselves at this point. If Broder is as casual and uninformed a driver as he makes out, he may actually be a good test subject for a new technology, but I’d tend to doubt his future opinions on cars. Elon Musk may be right about the data, but he comes across as imperious and paranoid. Tesla may actually be a technology company, but here’s a flash – techies are not known for having great people skills.

Plug-in electric cars will remain a small but growing portion of total production (nearing 100 million vehicles a year globally) for the next decade.

But sales will increase–in the U.S., last year they tripled the previous year’s level–and consumers will gradually come to understand where electric cars are most appropriate (daily errands, predictable commutes, short-distance trips) and where they’re not (driving across the country).

Tesla won’t grow to the size of Toyota or General Motors or Volkswagen any time soon, but it doesn’t need to.

And within two decades, consumers will understand that driving electric cars is a better experience than exploding air mixed with refined dead dinosaurs in increasingly complex engines.

But that all takes time.

If we see even higher fuel prices and lines at filling stations (they used to be called that), those that can afford EVs may simply find lesser range and longer charging to be less inconvenient than, “running around on fossil fuel.”